From the article, is that there is an expected decline of women in congress, the first in the past 30 years, "the irony is that, in this so-called, year of the woman, this result will be, more than anything else, an expression of the preference and passions of angry white men."

After Rad mentioned the US Ceres, I went back and found the US Eris is at 8 Capricorn in the 8th house, natally squared by Saturn in Libra, house 5, also sextile to US natal Ceres 8 Pisces in House 10. Then transiting Eris is 21 Aries Rx conjunct US natal Chiron in house 11. There will be more to come, since the transiting nodes have been over US natal Eris, and transiting Pluto and Ceres will also move over US natal Eris.

So I answered my own question about the Tea Party women above. The distorted archeype of Eris is that she felt snubbed, and responded with stirring up anger, strife, discord, very much what we are seeing now.

Moving away from this, just wanted to express my appreciation for what everyone expresses here--there have been many times, with all of what is going on has been so overwhelming, being able to come here and read and take in what others are feeling and thinking help more than you know.

The sheer force of subconscious influence in this case is based on the fact that the traumas being accessed in the soul's long term memory are directly linked to SURVIVAL issues............... So in this case the survival instinct has been the underlying force in the compulsion to compensate in order to secure appreciation/approval/resources from society…the subconscious message being 'my survival depends on it'.

Hi Stacie,

Thank you so much for your analysis of JUNO in the chart that Ari posted. Everything you described makes complete sense on an intuitive level. I understand that the "survival issues" correlate to Taurus 11th.

Thanks for the article, and for looking at Ceres and Eris in the US chart as they relate to the Tea Party. The Comment "Faux women for a faux party. Real women need not apply" aptly portrays the two-fold discussion in this thread, namely, "distorted" and "natural" expressions of the Asteroid Goddesses and dwarf planets.

The 560 year cycle of dwarf planet Eris around the Sun puts her presence in people's charts (who are younger than 80) in Aries.

Eris is the Greek goddess of strife (Latin 'Discordia'). Her Greek opposite is Harmonia (Latin 'Concordia').

• Discovered on 5 January 2005, Pasadena, Calif.• Kuiper Belt Object, slightly larger than Pluto, classified as a plutoid, with a 560 year orbit around the Sun.• Greek word meaning strife, root of the word "eristic" meaning to strive or dispute, speaking of an argument or controversy.• Eris's role in history was to offer a gift that exposed the recipients to their own shortcomings: vanity, jealousy, anger, fighting, intolerance, envy and possessiveness.• In a more positive myth, she stimulated healthy competition.• Connected to Libra, discovered while in Aries, makes her an 'uninvited guest.'• Eris was named by astronomers, not astrologers. Myth is a starting point, but it will be many decades before the meaning of this body will be understood in astrology. • Eris' current position is 21.49 deg Aries Rx.

The Legend of Eris in Greek Mythology

Short version: Because of Eris' disagreeable nature she was the only goddess not to be invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, the parents of the Greek hero Achilles. When she turned up anyway and was refused admittance, in a rage she threw a golden apple amongst the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite inscribed "To the fairest." As these were all beautiful goddesses, it was not an easy decision, so a mortal named Paris was chosen to decide who should have the golden apple. Tempted by Aphrodite's offer of the most comely mortal woman, Paris awarded the prize to the goddess of love. The rivalry of the goddesses brought about the events which then led to the Trojan War.

In Hesiod's Works and Days 11–24, two different goddesses named Eris are distinguished:

So, after all, there was not one kind of Strife alone, but all over the earth there are two. As for the one, a man would praise her when he came to understand her; but the other is blameworthy: and they are wholly different in nature. For one fosters evil war and battle, being cruel: her no man loves; but perforce, through the will of the deathless gods, men pay harsh Strife her honour due. But the other is the elder daughter of dark Night (Nyx), and the son of Cronus who sits above and dwells in the aether, set her in the roots of the earth: and she is far kinder to men. She stirs up even the shiftless to toil; for a man grows eager to work when he considers his neighbour, a rich man who hastens to plough and plant and put his house in good order; and neighbour vies with his neighbour as he hurries after wealth. This Strife is wholesome for men. And potter is angry with potter, and craftsman with craftsman, and beggar is jealous of beggar, and minstrel of minstrel.

Ceres is presently at 24 deg Sagittarius, and will enter Capricorn on 8th October 2010.

Ceres conjuncts Pluto in Capricorn on 19th October 2010.

Just read Stephanie Austin's Aries Full Moon (Oct 22-23) column in TMA. She writes this about Ceres, which I thought was interesting and insightful:

"As the Great Mother goddess, she gave birth to Plutis, the Greek God of the Earth's wealth. More recent versions of Plutus/Pluto's abduction of Demeter/Ceres' daughter, Persephone, illustrate the domination of matriarchal goddess cults and the Earth by patriarchal forces."

Perhaps there'll be some revelation of this in some way with the full moon... At any rate, gives great insight, I think. Ceres, the Great Mother goddess, in undistorted form gives birth to wealth (natural, harmonious, life-sustaining wealth, not distorted, destructive, greed-based wealth). Pluto, the wealth of the Earth, coming up and abducting Ceres' daughter, disrupting the natural harmony, is a reflection of the patriarchal distortion. Demeter pining for her daughter - patriarchal distortion. One view, anyway.

Thanks for sharing your insights on Ceres. The creation of the Greek sky gods correlated to a time of destruction of the natural harmony. The Greek myths are full of mayhem, murder, chaos, abduction, greed, jealousy, bribery, vanity..... These distortions were virtually unheard of during the matriarchy.

Quote by Rad: It could be very useful to examine the patriarchal overlay/projections into these natural asteroid Goddesses. And in that examination to recreate the actual, NATURAL, meanings and correlations to those asteroids.

I wonder if there are any other myths that can be drawn upon that can give insight into the natural behaviours of the asteroid goddesses? Take Eris, for example. What is the natural undistorted expression of Eris? I found it very difficult to find any natural meaning there at all; the myth was completely dominated by the patriarchal distortions of human nature.

Why did Eris have such a disagreeable nature? It all began with not being invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, or someone 'forgetting' to invite her. Once she decided to turn up to the wedding anyway, she was refused admittance. This omission and exclusion then lead to a chain of disastrous events.

Eris's rage actually began with NON-INCLUSION, the distortion of the Natural Law of "inclusion."

Hi all,I've been following this thread, and although my knowledge of Greek mythology is limited, I find myself repeatedly going to the book The Women WHo Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. She has delved very deeply and soulfully into the many ways the divine feminine, which she calls the Wild Woman archetype, is distorted by our conditioning. Is anyone else familiar with her work? She uses myth and story telling to describethe archetypes involved in how the feminine is distorted and how it can be reclaimed. Her version of the story of Sedna for example, is quite different than what I've seen elsewhere, a much more empowered summary. I will see if there are any other parrallels with the other asteroids listed here.With love for the Wild Woman and Natural Law, Heather

Her version of the story of Sedna for example, is quite different than what I've seen elsewhere, a much more empowered summary. I will see if there are any other parrallels with the other asteroids listed here.With love for the Wild Woman and Natural Law, Heather

Hi Heather,

I have heard of her, from many years back. I know I've heard her speak, not in person, but via video or on tv. I haven't read her book, though. Could you give a brief summary of her version of the Sedna myth?

My thoughts on Eris is that she does not correlate or symbolize anything about the natural feminine in the totality of what a what the natural feminine principle/ archetype is. To me, this creation of Eris comes out of, and manifested by, hopelessly distorted men who, in turn, have distorted the natural feminine because of their own distortions. Thus, the 'projection' of this manifesting as the 'creation' of that 'goddess' by them. In other words, there is no natural feminine to reclaim in this one.

Thank you Rad - my thoughts exactly. Eris is just a fabrication of distorted men. I would like to see some deeper meanings emerge for this asteroid as time goes on. Surely there would have been alternative meanings for the discovery of this asteroid? Astronomers named this asteroid "Eris" after first naming her "Zena" (after the TV show). Surely, astrologers during the time of the discovery must have come up with something more sensible. I wonder if a deeper meaning / symbology can be found for Eris?

Next, I'll be posting summaries for Lilith and Amazone very soon. I'm waiting to receive Kristin's CD about Lilith in the mail. Hope you're around Kristin - we would love your input into these ones!

I emailed Stephanie Austin to ask her if she could provide some sources that get beyond patriarchal distortions. Here's part of her response:

"The sources I used are:

God Herself by Geraldine Thorsten--her books is a gold mine of pre-patriarchal information, with extensive footnotes and references to explore further. Asteroid Goddess and Mysteries of the Dark Moon by Demetra George"

She also said she probably did some internet searching (she was thinking specifically of the Oct 22 Full Moon).

I suspect many here already know about these sources, but thought I'd share them for those who don't.

God Herself by Geraldine Thorsten--her books is a gold mine of pre-patriarchal information, with extensive footnotes and references to explore further. Asteroid Goddess and Mysteries of the Dark Moon by Demetra George"

Wow, this is great Ellen. Stephanie Austin referenced the matriarchal connections to Saturn too over the summer. I'm going to look for the article.